According to Facebook, on average, there are 1,500 stories that could appear in a person’s News Feed each time they log onto Facebook. For people with lots of friends and Page likes, as many as 15,000 potential stories could appear any time they log on – but only 300 of them actually make it into a user’s News Feed. So how do you ensure your content is included in that 300? Let’s explore some Facebook specific best practices.
1) Engage your audience with images & videos
Although Facebook has made moves to crack down on photos with URLs and click-bait headlines, posts with images remain engaging. I’m not suggesting you post images only for clicks but it is an interesting fact that image posts generate 179% more audience engagement than average posts.
Other Facebook engagement statistics by Mari Smith:
- Posts published from 10 – 11 PM EST get 88% more interactions than the average Facebook post.*
- Image posts get 179% more interactions than the average Facebook post.
- Posts ending with a question get 162% more interactions than the average post.
- Videos are the most shared post type, with 89.5 average Facebook shares.**
- Posts published on Sunday get 52.9% more interactions than the average Facebook post.
- Excluding images, posts with 150-200 characters performed the best, averaging 238.75 shares.
- Posting with a 3rd party tool results in 89.5% less engagement than directly posting to Facebook.
- Posts that link to long form content (2000+ words) receive 40% more interactions than linking to short form content.* Interactions = likes + shares + comments
** BuzzSumo counted only shares, not likes + comments.
2) Optimize images for size
Optimizing image upload speed isn’t as important as optimizing image sizing. It’s best to use creatives that conform to the specific dimensions Facebook allows for posts. Here are three key image dimensions to know:
- News Feed Image: 1200 x 1200 px (actually uploads to 504 px, but this maintains a quality display)
- Shared Link Preview: 1200 x 628 px (actually uploads as 484 x 252 px, but same quality concept)
- Shared Video Preview: 504 x 283 px
3) Remove ugly URLs from copy
Facebook real estate is precious… You’ll want to remove long URL’s from your text to ensure your audience can easily read your content. Besides, any user can click on the on the generated thumbnail or title and have that URL navigate to the desired destination.
4) Increase post word count
According to a TrackMaven, posts with 80+ words garner 2X more engagement than posts with less content. I’m not suggesting every post should become a novel, but it does indicate that Facebook users are willing to read.
- Excluding images, posts with 150-200 characters performed the best, averaging 238.75 shares.
- Posts that link to long form content (2000+ words) receive 40% more interactions than linking to short form content.
5) Try punctuation
According to a TrackMaven, various punctuation uses on Facebook can generate different results. Each punctuation is worth testing for which works best with your audience. Here are the specific ones mentioned:
- Posts with hashtags (#) see 60% more interactions on average.
- Posts with exclamation points (!) see 2.7% more interactions on average.
- Posts that ask questions (?) garner 23% more engagement on average.
According to Mari Smith, posts ending with a question get 162% more interactions than the average post.
6) Post images to the News Feed before photo album
Uploading images direct to an album is great for organization but terrible for engagement. A better approach would be to publish the images directly to your News Feed as a one-time update. Once the initial engagement wears off (about 5 hours), go back and organize the photos into albums if you want to.
7) Keep titles under 100 characters
Any title longer than 100 characters will be truncated when posting to your Facebook Business Page. You don’t want your messages cut off – so be sure to edit your titles or risk losing your message.
8) Publish after work hours and on weekends
According to a TrackMaven, posts published after hours (5 p.m. – 1 a.m. EST), see 11% more interactions than those published during the day (8 a.m. – 5 p.m.). They also see 29% more interactions than those published before work (1 a.m. – 8 a.m.).
According to Mari Smith, posts published from 10 – 11 PM EST get 88% more interactions (likes, shares and comments) than the average Facebook post.
The best time to publish on Facebook is when you audience is online – not when it’s convenient for you.
9) Publish on weekends.
According to a TrackMaven, the weekend receives 82% less posting than weekdays, however, weekend posts see more engagement. On average, Sunday posts receive 25% more Likes, Shares, and Comments than posts published on Wednesdays.
A similar pattern emerges with email open rates, highly suggesting the need to experiment with weekend social media and email promotion.
10) Experiment with emoticons.
According to an AMEX Open Forum study, emoticons can result in a few different results on Facebook:
- Posts with emoticons receive a 33% higher share rate.
- Posts with emoticons receive a 33% higher comment rate.
- Posts with emoticons receive a 57% higher like rate.
11) Third party tools.
According to Mari Smith, posting with a 3rd party tool results in 89.5% less engagement than directly posting to Facebook.